City of Shattered Hearts
by Dying-To-Fit-In
Summary: This is just the beginning... Jace and Sage have been dating for a year now. But when Sage doubts her feelings for Jace, she must find a way to either end the relationship, or rekindle her feelings.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Sage sat alone in Java Jones, sipping a coffee she didn't care for. There was a boy reading, what she considered, distasteful poetry, and she had to fight the urge to laugh. It really was horrible.

She leaned back in her seat, and traced the rune on the back of her left hand with her fingers. All Shadowhunters had runes tattooed onto their skin, and like the others, Sage considered them beautiful. If only she didn't have to hide them in the mundane world.

Glancing up, Sage spotted a familiar blonde-haired boy, creeping up behind a smaller red-haired girl. Sage abandoned her coffee, and padded quietly toward him.

"Jace," she whispered under her breath. Sage had not bothered to glamour herself, and she suspected Jace had. His head whipped around toward her, his eyes wide. Sage grinned at him, knowing she was the only one who could startle him.

"What're you doing here?" Jace inquired, taking a step towards her.

Sage shook her head in response, and began walking towards the exit, knowing well that he would follow after her. Once they were in the protection of the alley out back, Sage narrowed her eyes. "Who the hell was that, Jace?" She spat, her fists clenching at her sides.

"Who?" Jace arched an eyebrow. "I didn't talk to anyone."

Sage raised her hands to her head, gathering a fistful of hair in each as she paced back and forth. "You were going to talk to that mundane girl. I saw that look on your face. You think she's beautiful, don't you?"

Jace curled his hands over Sage's, gently forcing them to release her hair as he intertwined their fingers. He looked intently into her dark blue eyes with his own golden ones, making her chest tighten. "Sage Goldenfire, I could never think anyone to be more beautiful than you." He murmured.

Sage lowered her lashes, her gaze on their interlocked fingers. "I-"

The words caught in Sage's throat, and she couldn't force herself to say them. She knew she ought to. Her and Jace had been dating for almost a year, but still she couldn't bring herself to say the three words she should've been saying naturally. They would change everything about their relationship.

Jace leaned forward, brushing his lips lightly against hers. He didn't mind if she didn't say them. He hadn't ever said them himself, so she knew there wasn't too much pressure.

"I love you, Sage." Jace said against her lips. Sage's eyes flew open wide. So much for not having to feel pressured to say it. She pulled away, freeing her hands and shoving them into her pocket.

A look of confusion was painted on Jace's face, but Sage only caught a glimpse of it before she took off running.

If she had've been anyone else, Jace would have caught up to her in a heart beat. Jace was the fastest Shadowhunter she knew, besides her, of course, and no one was ever able to successfully run from him. But Sage wasn't anyone else, and Jace wouldn't be able to catch her.

She found herself at Magnus Bane's apartment much later. After being buzzed upstairs, she collapsed on the floor. She saw a blurry Magnus standing over her, and then the world went black.

Sun shone through the crack between the curtains, dancing along Sage's closed eyelids. With a groan, she opened her eyes and sat up, her gaze flitting across the unfamiliar room.

"Oh, good. You're awake." Sage started in surprise and looked over quickly at the chair seated facing her bed. Sure enough, Jace was there, looking at her calmly.

Sage cleared her throat, her eyes fixed on Jace, who didn't move. "You, uh, scared me." She said, and mentally hit herself for saying something so stupid.

Jace looked at her, studied her. "I know." He stood up, not taking his eyes off her and slid into the narrow bed next to her.

"Why're you here?" Sage murmured as Jace wrapped his arm around her shoulder, drawing her closer.

He didn't smile as he pushed her tangled, blonde hair off her face. "Magnus called me after you passed out on his floor. I've been here all night." Sage, for the first time, noticed how red his eyes looked.

"I don't remember passing out." Sage stated, knowing she shouldn't comment on how tired Jace appeared.

Jace kissed the top of Sage's head, murmuring his reply, "Magnus said you looked green, like you were going to be sick."

Sage shrugged. She really didn't remember why she'd fainted. Could it have been that the shock of Jace's words had unsettled her that much? She didn't know.

"Why did you leave last night?" Jace asked.

Sage looked away from him. "You said you-"

"That I love you?"

Sage nodded. "Yeah, that."

"Do you love me, Sage?" Jace gripped her arm tightly, inhibiting any movement from it.

"I don't know." Sage mumbled, not looking at Jace.

Jace stiffened beside her, his hand falling away from her shoulder. Before Sage could say anything, he was gone.

Sage drew her knees up to her chest, burying her face in her hands. _I won't cry_, she thought, as a single tear slid down her cheek.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Alec, his hair damp from a recent shower, strode into the kitchen of the institute. He searched through the fridge, which was disappointingly empty.

"There you are." Came a familiar voice from behind him.

Alec turned, closing the fridge behind him. "Ah, Jace," he smiled, "where's Sage?"

Alec would've sworn he saw Jace flinch at her name, but he couldn't ask him. "With Magnus." Jace's eyes narrowed. "Why can't you control your damn boyfriend, Alec?"

"He's not-we're not-" Alec stammered, his face flushing red. He turned away from Jace, opening the fridge again to hide his face.

"Whatever." Jace grunted, and stalked out of the room. Alec was glad he left, as he closed the fridge.

"Whoa. Who crapped in his Cheerios?" Isabelle walked in as Jace exited. "He nearly killed me just with his sour look." She shook her head in dismay.

Alec shrugged. He was hurt that Jace had taken his mood out on him. But should he reveal as much to his own sister? He decided against it.

"Sage probably slept with someone else, or something." Isabelle snorted in disgust. It wasn't a secret that Isabelle disliked Sage. She had been the only girl in a group of boys before Sage had come around. Now she had to share her adoptive brother, and occasionally Alec.

Alec bit the inside of his cheek, trying to fend off a smile. "You know Sage isn't like that." He couldn't help hiding the smile. "I think they're fighting." He added in added a lowered voice.

"Like I care what Sage does," Isabelle rolled her eyes, flipping her dark hair over her shoulder and walking out the room.

Alec sighed, picked up the phone, and ordered a pizza.

* * *

"You know, I usually don't do this." Magnus carried a tray of breakfast over to the table where Sage sat. He sat down opposite her, watching as she lifted the silver cover of the tray.

"But I'm just so special?" Sage batted her eyelashes at Magnus, before eyeing her pancakes hungrily. The smell of the syrup made her mouth water as she drenched her pancakes in it.

"You could call it that." Magnus muttered, watching her take a mouthful of breakfast. "Or maybe I just recognize the importance of eating that your generation just doesn't."

Sage snorted. "Sure. Or you want to impress Alec. But he hates me, so this might turn him off."

"In that case, make breakfast yourself." Magnus snapped his fingers, making the food disappear.

A knock sounded on the door of the apartment before it opened, and in strolled Alec, carrying a box of pizza. "Oh, you're here." He muttered after seeing Sage.

Sage raised her eyebrows and nodded, but didn't say anything. Instead, she helped herself to the pizza when Alec set it down on the table. She didn't thank him.

Alec plopped down in a chair beside Magnus, not making any movements toward the food. He stared at Sage, probably wishing she would leave. But, of course, he didn't vocalize his opinion.

"How long are you going to be staying here?" Asked Magnus.

"I don't know." Sage replied around a mouthful of pizza. "It's not like I have anywhere else to go, you know?"

Sage had lost both her parents at a young age. At least, she assumed they were dead. She couldn't remember them. As far as she knew, she'd always been taken care of by strangers. She wasn't as ignorant not to realize that someone must've cared for her as an infant, but whether it was her parents, or a stranger, she had no clue.

Then, when Sage was four or five, she'd been living in the London institute. No one there had known who her parents were, but they had trained her to fight like a Shadowhunter. They'd trained her to be the best, and she was thankful of them for taking her in.

But at the age of fifteen, she'd gotten the urge to travel. And now at sixteen, Sage was lucky enough to be staying at the institute in New York with Mayrse and Robert Lightwood.

"Just go back to the institute. I don't know what the hell is wrong between you and Jace, but you can't avoid him." Alec practically snarled the words at her. "He deserves an explanation. An apology. _Something!_"

Sage stood up, slamming her fist against the table, the sound of the impact echoing through the room. "It's his fault! Why should I apologize? Perhaps he shouldn't have said anything!" She screamed at Alec, leaning over the table with each word until she was yelling in his face.

Alec was also standing now, and he roughly pushed Sage away from him, and she flopped back into her chair. She drew her knees up to her chest, bowing her head so that her thick blonde hair covered her face. When she lifted her head, moments later, her cheeks were streaked with tears.

"I-messed-up." Sage gasped between sobs.

Moving to her side, Alec brushed her hair out of her face. Although he didn't care much for her, it pained him to see anyone cry. "It's okay," he said awkwardly. "Maybe you just need to talk it out." His hand caressed her cheek gently, wiping the tears from her pale face.

"Will you take me to institute?" Sage whispered. When she turned her head to look at Alec, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror behind him. Her eyes looked back at her, but instead of seeing the normal blue irises, black ones stared back at her. She gasped, tearing her gaze away from the mirror and closed her eyes against the image.

With a little hesitation, Alec looked toward Magnus, who nodded his head. "Take her home," Magnus said sympathetically.

"Alright," said Alec, "let's go home."


End file.
